Evergrande impact: Bitcoin slides to $45,000 as traders pare back on risk

Cryptocurrency prices slumped as a broad selloff sparked by worries about contagion from China Evergrande Group swept through global markets. 

Bitcoin dropped 5.4% to $45,025 as of 9:49 a.m. in London, reaching the lowest level in a week. Other digital assets also retreated, with Bitcoin Cash and Ether all declining. 

Stock markets globally sank on Monday as investors weighed the risk of a spillover from Evergrande’s debt woes and this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. Bitcoin prices had been trending higher recently, with prices hitting a four-month high earlier this month.